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Screen Printing and Embroidery

The number of websites selling t-shirts can be overwhelming. In this article I will address some of the issues related to buying wholesale t-shirts. Here are some things that you should not do, and things that I would recommend. As well as guidelines that you should use to chose the correct supplier.

First of all I think we need to establish what type of clothing you are looking for.

There are 2 questions that when answered will tell you quite a bit about the type of company you are looking for:

The shirts you are looking for, are they printed or blank? If printed, are you looking for a particular design or are you looking for someone to do the printing for you?

If the shirts are blank, then are you willing to buy in bulk? When starting a clothing company, having shirts printed or outfitting an existing group, you should buy in bulk. This is commonsense but the more you buy the better the price you should get.

Some companies will automatically give better prices according to the dollar amount purchased, or the quantity purchased. In my opinion I believe that a company who allows the dollar amount to affect the discount is the better option. This is because you can reach the discount threshold on a number of different products, and are not forced to buy a large number of one product when it is not needed. OutletShirts discounts are based on the purchase amount not product amount. Either way if the company does not offer discounts then there is no benefit to buying in bulk, and you should keep looking.

There are also the brick and mortar stores that you could buy from. The pros and cons of these stores are about the same for any industry. You can go in and see the product. Feel it, try it on and of course go home with it the same day. The biggest downfall to these stores is that in most cases the overhead associated with a physical showroom prevents them from offering the kind of prices that you can find online. They have to make their lease or mortgage payment, pay their employees and stock their shelves. When you add advertising and utilities, it is almost impossible with them to compete with online stores.

I have heard some people talking about the great price on t-shirts they saw at one of those big-box retailers. They have the same brick and mortar problems -- Overhead. The prices were about $5-7 per shirt. This is about $3 more per piece than we charge. If you are trying to outfit a group of 100 the choice is an easy one to make.

What about shipping? In many cases this is the deciding factor, and to a lot of people is a big reason why they will not shop online, second only to security. I would agree with these people. The problem is that many people keep their shipping prices hidden until the checkout process. Look for FREE SHIPPING. It does not have to be free on every order but there should be a breaking point. If I am going to spend $400 with a company I want to get my stuff shipped for free. This is not an unreasonable request. Some clothing suppliers do not offer free shipping ever. The problem is that they get free shipping from the manufacturer or supplier if the order is over a specified dollar value. Why are they not passing that on to you? I will let you answer that question. Offering good prices and then charging OutletShirts offers free shipping on orders over $100. This does not apply to orders that we screen print or embroider. This is because we have to ship the order 2 times. We have to ship it to our custom clothing department, so it can be altered, and then to you when it is done. We will not charge you for both of the shipping charges.

On orders over $100 or orders where expedited shipping has been paid for is on average 2 days for 90% of the United States. Alaska and Hawaii are usually slower and may require an additional charge. Due to import and export laws we have chosen not to offer international shipping.

If you are going to have your clothing screen printed or embroidered, here are some suggestions. We can provide the service for you however we have a two-week turn around period. If you need your apparel before 2 weeks I would recommend buying from an online supplier, and taking the clothing to a local company who has a schedule that is open enough to accommodate your deadline. You can usually get a better price from an online store than a screen printing and embroidery shop. Some of these companies will not allow you to supply your own apparel, but in my experience most do not care. There will not be a delay when buying from us. We can ship directly to the company you have chosen to do the work.

Be careful when ordering. Online wholesalers typically do not operate a traditional store, and even if they do chances are you did not walk in to buy your merchandise. So returns and exchanges and not handled in a brick and mortar fashion. Make sure that you are happy with the size, color, quantity and model before placing your order. Or you will be subjected to a restocking fee and return shipping costs.

In conclusion buying from an online clothing wholesaler will save you money. You may not get to see the actual shirts or try them on. However if you are buying a brand that you are familiar with the only concern is size and color. Shipping time and cost should be carefully considered. Try to get free shipping where you can. Remember to look for SSL ("https://") so that you know your credit card details are safe. And look for friendly toll free customer support.